


Escape (The Piña Colada Song)

by ClownTownBee



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: AU, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cheating, Husbands, M/M, Personal Ads, Song fic, Soulmates, not really cheating though, they’re married
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2020-03-31
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:34:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23416039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClownTownBee/pseuds/ClownTownBee
Summary: Richie and Eddie have been married a while. But they’re still in love.Right?-OR-A Reddie fic based on the piña colada song
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak & Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 3
Kudos: 29





	Escape (The Piña Colada Song)

Richie laid in bed with Eddie curled into his side. As he looked at his husband of 10 years he sighed softly, so as to avoid waking him. He felt a pit start to form in his stomach.

It wasn’t that he had stopped loving Eddie, it’s that he was just. Bored. They had fallen into the same routine, and this was part of it. They’d get in bed by 10 so Eddie could wake up and be ready for work on time, and Richie would lay away for an hour or more.

When they had first gotten together, everything was explosive and passionate and exciting. Now, it was predictable and tame. Nothing ever changed. Richie didn’t know what to do but he knew he had to do something.

To ease his mind he picked up the newspaper that got placed on their bedside table. After reading the comics, he thumbed through the pages. He stopped to read a story about a local sports team and then continued on until he hit the section with the personals. He laughed to himself, he found it stupid and desperate that anyone would ever put out a personal ad. But, out of curiosity, he continued. He read through a few ads before one caught his eye.

_ “If you like Piña Coladas, and getting caught in the rain _

_ If you're not into yoga, if you have half a brain _

_ If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape _

_ I'm the love that you've looked for, write to me, and escape.” _

Richie put the paper down, but the ad didn’t leave his mind, even as he fell asleep. He tossed and turned all night, waking sporadically. When he was asleep, he dreamed about the cape; and when he was awake, he was racked with guilt for having a person he’d never met on his mind as the love of his life slept next to him. He didn’t want to find interest somewhere else, but he wasn’t finding it here anymore.

At 6:35 a.m, he heard Eddie’s alarm and he felt Eddie roll out of bed. Richie thought about sitting up, grabbing Eddie and seeing what would happen. But that wasn’t part of the routine, so he let Eddie go without letting on that he was awake. As soon as Richie heard the shower turn on, he picked up the paper and read the ad again. He couldn’t help but wonder who this man was, and how it felt to live like him. Loving freedom and embracing it, instead of letting yourself fall into the same thing, same life, every single day. He read each word until he had it memorized and then he read it twice more to make sure. The shower turned off and Richie put the paper down, acting like he just woke up as Eddie walked out of the bathroom. Eddie kissed him on the head then walked out of their room and Richie couldn’t help but feeling guilty. He hadn’t done anything, but he felt like he was lying to Eddie. He never wanted to be the person who stayed safe instead of happy, who lied to the people he loved. But, there he was, hiding a newspaper and thinking about escape.

After a cup of coffee together, Eddie left for work at 7:08. Same as always. Richie took his shower, shaved, brushed his teeth, and got dressed. At 7:40 he slipped on his shoes and walked out the door. Having his office building 10 minutes away allowed him to walk and get a cup of coffee, his second of the day, and a muffin in the lobby before heading to his cubicle on the 4th floor. He typed and took phone calls until his lunch break at noon. During lunch he got food from the fast food joint down the street and texted with Eddie about his day. Same as always. At 1, it’s back to work until 4. At 4 he packs up to leave and walks home, walking in the door at 4:12 to see the newspaper that Eddie had surely thrown onto the table as he left. Same as always.

Richie sat at their kitchen table and stared at the newspaper he set in front of him, spinning the ring on his left hand the whole time. No matter what he thought, he knew he loved Eddie. That is the one thing that he wanted to stay the same.

But still, he couldn’t stop himself was opening the paper in front of him to the personals column. The same ad was in the same place, third down on the page. He started at it, even though he already knew what it said. And, as much as he broke his own heart, he couldn’t help but letting his eyes wander down to the bottom of the page.

It had two options for submitting your own ad. One was to mail in your ad and these would be organized on a weekly basis. The second, and more immediate option, was to call the listed number and talk to a person at the station. This option cost money not only for the ad but for the call as well, another way for the newspaper to make money, but promised the ad would be posted the next day. And the next thing Richie knew, he was up and at the home phone, dialing the number in the paper.

After he hung up he ran to the bathroom, only to dry heave and end up on the ground in tears. He loved Eddie. He knew that and so he couldn’t reconcile that with what he had done. But the ad was placed, and he couldn’t stop the mystery lonely heart who started all of this from reading it. He cried, not only because he loved Eddie, but because he had learned to love himself enough to want more than just okay. And their lives had turned into just okay. Richie knew that being in love wasn’t just the feeling, it was choosing every day; and it felt like Eddie and Richie just stopped choosing anything. Not themselves, not each other, just choosing to stay the same as always because it wasn’t much of a choice.

Richie got himself calmed down and cleaned up before Eddie walked in the door at 5:40 with dinner in his hand. Chinese takeout, just the same as the 3rd Thursday of every month. They sat in front of the tv and ate, almost in silence. Neither bothered to ask how the other’s day was because they knew, “same as always”. They cleaned up and cuddled on the couch. Comfortable and boring. At 9:25 they started getting ready for bed and by 10 they were in bed with the lights out. They kissed and said their “I love yous” and Eddie fell asleep soon after.

As Richie laid awake he couldn’t help but wonder if Eddie felt the way he did. He couldn’t help but wonder if Eddie still loved him at all. He silently wondered and silently tears streamed down his face until he exhausted himself and eventually fell asleep.

The next morning was the same, 6:35 to 7:08 to 7:40. On his walk to work he couldn’t help but the words he was too scared to look for in the paper that morning. The words that he knew because he said them into his phone the night before.

_ “Yes, I like Piña Coladas, and getting caught in the rain _

_ I'm not much into health food, I am into champagne _

_ I've got to meet you by tomorrow noon, and cut through all this red tape _

_ At a bar called O'Malley's, where we'll plan our escape.” _

Richie answered calls and typed records until his lunch break. He left early, 11:47, and promised himself that he would come back early to make up for it. But he had to be at O’Malley’s by noon and so he swiftly walked until he was there. He sat at the bar and watched the door, occasionally looking down to check his watch, anxious for it to strike noon.

The hands on Richie’s watch all lined up at the 12 and his eyes shot toward the door as the bell above it rung. The man who walked in smiled as they made eye contact. He knew the man he saw, his smile, his eyes, his jawline, down to the socks he was wearing. They were the joke socks he got for his 37th birthday, dogs wearing sunglasses all over them.

“Eds.” Richie smiles and grabbed his hand, pulling Eddie towards the bar so they could sit.

“Oh, it’s you,” Eddie sighed and smiled, despite the tears in his eyes. He reached out to cup Richie’s face and Richie leaned into it. They sat like that for a while before Richie finally spoke up. He started softly but gained confidence as he spoke.

_ “I never knew _

_ That you liked Piña Coladas, and getting caught in the rain _

_ And the feel of the ocean, and the taste of champagne _

_ If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape _

_ You're the love that I've looked for, come with me, and escape.” _

Richie and Eddie rested their foreheads together, just breathing together. Richie knew that he loved Eddie and he also knew that Eddie loved him too. That is the one thing that he was happy to have the same as always.

They sat and talked through their lunch break. About loving each other and choosing each other. They ignored the clock until they noticed the sun setting. For once, things were so different. Neither of them worried about work, or dinner, or getting to bed on time.

As the dinner crowd started to funnel in to O’Malley’s, Eddie stood up and smiled at the love of his life and offered his hand.

_ “I'm the love that you've looked for, come with me, and escape.” _

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever fic on here and only my second fic ever so please be kind!
> 
> Thanks for reading!!!


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